Patrick Barron, first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, today announced his plan to retire effective Feb. 28, 2011, after more than 43 years in the Federal Reserve System. Marie Gooding, Atlanta Fed executive vice president and retail payments product manager, has been appointed as the Bank's next first vice president and chief operating officer, effective March 1, 2011. Gooding was appointed by the Sixth Federal Reserve District's board of directors, with approval by the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors. Gooding also will serve as retail payments product director for the Fed System. Cheryl Venable, senior vice president and chief information officer for the Retail Payments Office (RPO), has been named retail payments product manager effective March 1, 2011, and will join the Atlanta Fed's management committee.

"We are very grateful to Pat for his many significant contributions to the Atlanta Fed and to the Federal Reserve System over his career," said Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed president and chief executive officer. "Pat has a long list of distinguished accomplishments, including his leadership as director of the Fed System's RPO from 1998 to present. In this role, he has continuously advanced more rapid adoption of an electronic approach to processing check payments. Through this work, he has helped to make the nation's payments system far more efficient for both businesses and consumers. In addition to his official responsibilities, Pat has played a vital role in the communities in which he has served."

Barron has served in his current position since 1996, when he returned to the Atlanta Fed following his service as first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco from 1991 to 1996. He began his career with the Atlanta Fed in 1967 in the computer operations area and transferred to the Miami Branch in 1971. Barron was named assistant vice president in 1974, appointed vice president and branch manager in 1982 and promoted to senior vice president in 1987. He returned to Atlanta the following year to assume broader and more strategic responsibilities as head of corporate services, overseeing automation administration, telecommunications, corporate planning and control, accounting, data processing and human resources. Barron also has been a member of or chaired several important System committees for the Federal Reserve.

Barron graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Miami. He completed the Harvard Business School's Program for Management Development and attended the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, where his thesis was accepted for the school library. Barron has been active in the community and is past chairman of the Georgia Council on Economic Education. He was an associate vice chairman for the United Way of Atlanta and a member of Leadership Atlanta. In Miami, he served as vice chairman of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. At present, he serves on the University of Miami's Board of Trustees and its President's Council, and he is president of the university's Alumni Association.

Carol Tomé, chief financial officer and executive vice president of The Home Depot and chairman of the Atlanta Fed's board of directors, offered her perspective on Gooding's appointment: "During her career at the Atlanta Fed, Marie has displayed strong personal commitment to the mission of the Federal Reserve and made significant contributions within the Atlanta Fed and throughout the Fed System. She brings to her new position a wide range of experience, having led functions as diverse as payments processing—both at the strategy-setting level and the operational level—computer systems, human resources and a number of other key functions."

Gooding most recently served as executive vice president and retail payments product manager for the Federal Reserve System. She joined the Atlanta Fed's head office in 1987 as a data security coordinator. In 1994, she was promoted to assistant vice president and assigned to the Atlanta Branch. From 1996 to 2001, she was assistant vice president and assistant branch manager. From 2001 to 2004, Gooding served as assistant vice president in the RPO and then served as vice president and senior officer over the RPO's FedACH Services. Gooding was named to head the Bank's human resources function in February 2006. Later that year, she was promoted to senior vice president. Gooding served as senior vice president and corporate engagement officer from Sept. 2008 to Nov. 2009, with responsibility for the office of the corporate secretary and the human resources and public affairs departments.

Before joining the Bank, Gooding was a data security manager for Gordon Jewelry Corporation of Houston. She also taught secondary math in the Georgia public school system. A native of Monroe, Ga., she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree from Old Dominion University. She completed Duke University's Advanced Management Program and Harvard University's Advanced Management Program.

Venable joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in 2010 after 19 years in the Federal Reserve System. In her current position, she serves as chief information officer for the RPO with responsibility for application development and operations of both check and FedACH. Venable joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in 1991 and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 1996, where she was promoted to vice president in 2002 and senior vice president in 2008. Before joining the Atlanta Fed this year, she oversaw information technology at the Minneapolis Fed, as well as FedACH operations and automation for the Atlanta and Minneapolis Banks. She also served on the Minneapolis Fed's management committee. Venable received her bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from Saint Louis University.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida and Georgia and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations and provides a variety of payments services to depository institutions and the U.S. government.